A sister has acted as a surrogate mother to help her brother and his partner, who are both policemen, become fathers.

Mother-of-three Lorna Bradley, 31, volunteered to have their baby when her brother Steven Ponder, 28, a special constable, revealed a desire to start a family with Ivan Sigston, 48, a police constable.

Both men were present when Mrs Bradley gave birth to William Campbell Ponder-Sigston at her home in Worthing last month.

Hampshire Police dog handler Mr Sigston provided the sperm but did not put himself down as the father, meaning he and Mr Ponder must adopt William, the Sun reported.

Speaking at her terraced home in Worthing this morning, Mrs Bradley declined to go into detail about the circumstances surrounding the birth.

She said: "It's a bit shocking because we didn't know it was going to be in the paper.

"We are just thinking about what we are going to do at the moment.

"We knew there was a chance that it was going to get out but we would rather have some time to think about commenting.

"There is a lot of us involved in it so we have all got to discuss it."

A friend told the newspaper: "They are over the moon, and they cannot thank Lorna enough for what she has done.

"They have decorated a room at their home [in Southampton] in blue as a nursery and take William out with the dogs daily."

It was said that no fee was paid to Mrs Bradley, who had the baby with the consent of her husband Darren, with the friend saying it was done out of "sisterly love".

A spokesman for Surrogacy UK told the newspaper: "We wish this couple all the best, but under the law it is not a proper surrogacy arrangement.

"That involves the couple applying for a parental order within six months of the child's birth.

"At present, same-sex couples cannot apply for a parental order but have to go through the adoption process.

"As only Lorna's name is on the birth certificate, she is William's legal guardian."